


How'm I supposed to die?

by Its_Physics_Magic



Series: Draw Back Your Bow [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Implied/Referenced Torture, Lian Yu, Mirakuru, Oliver & Slade Friendship, POV Oliver Queen, POV Thea Queen, Pre-Canon, Thea & Shado friendship, Thea & Slade Friendship, Thea was on the Gambit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-28
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-04-29 02:08:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14462703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Its_Physics_Magic/pseuds/Its_Physics_Magic
Summary: Thea Queen, aided by her brother and a somewhat unwilling Sara Lance, was smuggled onto the Queen's Gambit - a stowaway for their journey to China. She had wanted to impress her friends with tales of going on the Yatch, seeing the Great Wall of China and getting to miss school.Instead she ends up on a strange inhospitable Island named 'Lian Yu'Alternate Universe in which Thea Queen was aboard the Gambit.





	1. The Plan

**Author's Note:**

> Not 100% sure how this will turn out, it's a spur of the moment inspiration that I got and am excited for it but not sure how people will receive this. This won't be a copy of canon where I just insert Thea, I will edit and change things to fit the story but I will keep the tone the same. Short opening chapter that essentially sets up the scene.
> 
> This is essentially the flashback fic.

**. How'm I supposed to die? .**

How'm I supposed to die,  
When there's only one way to live?  
and the treasure in your eyes  
you were never meant to give  
and you were made to turn your back  
what am I to say to that?

**.**

* * *

Thea Queen was particularly adept at lock-picking, at the tender age of twelve she considered herself quite the expert at it. All courtesy of her big brother Ollie, the families resident tearaway playboy, who didn't mind teaching her the tricks of the trade. She didn't announce her presence to her brother before she entered his room, instead she ran in and threw herself into his arms as tears threatened to spill and fall down her cheeks.

All in all she should have listened to Raisa, the woman had warned her many times about why she should stop eavesdropping from the little nooks and crannies scattered around the Queen Mansion. Always warning her in that stern voice that one day she'd overhear something she didn't like.

It appeared that today was that day, she'd overheard Ollie and Sara making plans to sneak onto her Dad's boat. Sneak on there and leave her behiind.

Speedy!" Her brother soothed, "Hey! Hey! Calm down..." He promised to make whoever hurt her regret it, promised to give her the entire world if it got her to stop crying.

"You can't leave me here!" She yelled as her hands formed small fists and pounded against his chest.

She felt him sag slightly, the realisation of the cause of his sisters sudden mood swing hitting him. "Speedy...it'll just be a few weeks-" He placated and logically she knew he was right, logically she knew he wouldn't be gone very long a few weeks, a month at the worst. But that felt like an eternity to her. Especially since she had wanted to join them but Dad wouldn't listen to her or let her and she didn't feel like getting Ollie banned from going from spilling the fact that he was planning on going with them.

"You're taking Sara!" She shot back, "You could take me too."

Oliver was always the one who was there for her, even with all of his stupid and reckless antics - he and Tommy had raised her just as much as her parents. Her Mom and Dad were always busy with work. And yes, she understood that it was because of that work that she was so wealthy. As Raisa always reminded her she was privileged, but Thea would happily trade one of their private jets for some more time with her parents.

"Thea....I'll only be gone a few weeks...I promise to bring you back something cool, alright?" After his last trip he'd brought her back a snow globe, she had four of them; one from Rome (Her Father had went there on a business trip), one from Vegas, one from New York and one from when he and Tommy had gone to Washington D.C. on a school trip. It was a small ritual they had whenever someone went away, they always brought something back with them as a reminder.

But she didn't want to be stuck with a reminder this time.

Thea shook her head, "Why can't you just take me with you? It's not fair...Dad's always leaving...I don't want you to go too!"

It works.

"You'll let me come with?" Thea checked as a small smile starts to form, she needed to check that Oliver was going to help her - that he was going to let her come with him. "I thought Dad said I couldn't."

Oliver already seemed to be regretting his master plan, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like, "Dad's going to kill me...and Sara's going to castrate me." She wondered if she'd get to spend some time with Sara on the Yatch, she liked Sara, Sara was funny and loud and she made Thea laugh. Thea liked Laurel too though, Laurel helped her with her homework and had taught her how to defend herself when some older kids decided to try to beat her up.

But she wasn't planning on spilling the beans on that love triangle if it got Ollie in trouble.

Ollie came first.

Always.

They spent the next hour plotting how to get Thea onto the Queen's Gambit without raising suspicion. Deciding that it would be best not to reveal Thea's presence until they would be too far from Starling City to turn around.

"He can't stop you if we're already sailing when he finds out." Her brother told her with a small smirk and Thea is certain that she has the best big brother in the world. Beaming from ear to ear Thea hurried to her room, ignoring Raisa's suspicious looks and began to pack a bag for the trip.

Her friends were going to be so jealous.

* * *

Thea Queen sat hesitantly in Sara's car at the Starling City Docks where her Father's Yatch was due to set sail. She had told Raisa that Ollie was going to drop her off at school before he went to the docks to help their Father get ready to set sail.

"Mom's there...you stay in the car with Sara speedy...I'll come grab you when we're all in the clear." She shot him a mock salute and watched as he walked off, Mom was going to kill him.

Oliver headed over to where his parents were currently 'debating' about his Father's Yatch trip, shooting his Dad his most charming smile he laid down his rucksack and turned to his Mom with an innocent expression.

"Hey!" He called out with a cheerful voice, determined to get both himself and Thea onto the boat. When his Mom tried to protest he quickly deflected and turned to his Father, "Let me keep Dad company."

"Oliver you're in school!" Mom tried to reason.

He winced slightly, "Not really." Not giving her a chance to comment on it he quietly turned to their Father, "I forgot to tell you that." Giving them both a 'what can you do expression.' their Mother sighed and Thea wondered what College she was going to bribe next, maybe she could get Ollie into Princeton or MIT - get a science lab or sports building named after them.

Thea chuckled from where she was sat inside of the car, he had gotten kicked out of College about a week ago. He had been crashing at Tommy's and Laurel's respectively when Mom had thought he was at college.

It was his fourth College, her brother was definitely consistent. 

"I could use an extra hand on the ship." Their Father offered, ever the peacekeeper. Thea allowed herself to squeal with excitment and punch the air with victory, if their Dad was agreeing to letting Ollie on the boat then it was practically a done deal. Mom could never beat with the two of them when they decided to team up.

"Robert!" Their Mom reprimanded, albeit weakly.

"Moria...let the kid take the boat out with his old man." He offered with his trademark smile. Silently Thea added, 'Let the kid smuggle his sister onto the boat as well.'

Sighing she shook her head and admitted defeat, "Alright! But you'll promise me that you behave yourself?"

Ollie shot her the innocent expression that he usually saved for the nights where he was brought home in the back of a cop car, "Oh yeah...I promise." Apart from the whole sneaking his sister and his girlfriend's little sister onto the boat, yup that was definitely him behaving himself.

Thea watched as the two embraced and a small part of her felt a pang of jealously, she wasn't going to get to say goodbye to Mom. Then her eyes went wide as she saw Laurel approach, she shared a panicked look with Sara and the pair decided to go for a drive around the block.

Better than getting caught and having to explain what exactly the pair of them were doing at the Docks.

Fifteen minutes later and Thea was being smuggled onto the Yatch by Ollie and Sara. She watched through a porthole as their Mom stood on the docks and waved off her Father and Brother. She gripped her locket and smiled wistfully, knowing that her Mother was going to panic later on that day when her school phoned to report that she didn't appear today but by then it would be too late and she would be well on her way to China.

"Bye Mom.." Thea whispered as her Mom became a smudge on the horizon, "I love you." She hoped that when her Mom did find out she'd gone with Ollie that she wouldn't be too mad, too angry at her, she just hadn't wanted Oliver to leave her behind.


	2. The Queen's Gambit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who just finished the season 1 present day bits! (They still need to be checked/edited) but I'm counting this as a win!

**. How'm I supposed to die? .**

How'm I supposed to die,  
When there's only one way to live?  
and the treasure in your eyes  
you were never meant to give  
and you were made to turn your back  
what am I to say to that?

**.**

* * *

After an hour aboard the gambit Thea Queen has decided that she officially hates boats, or she at least hates being cooped up inside of her brother's quarters aboard a boat. Oliver and Sara both seem to be getting restless, the fact that they have to keep their clothes on in her company seemed to be difficult to them, she had no doubt that Oliver had planned a variety of creative things for the pair to do whilst on the Gambit and babysitting her hadn't been one of them.

Thea Queen sat cross legged on her brother's bed, she had been stuck in his room for  _hours_ and she was starting to get cabin fever. Thankfully Oliver and Sara had both managed to keep their clothes on and their hands to themselves whilst she had been in the room. And they had managed to avoid permanently scarring her for life.

_Again._

So when her brother suggested that they finally reveal the fact that he had smuggled not one but  _two_ guests onto the Gambit she practically jumped at the chance, a decision she would later come to regret once she was actually stood on the deck of the Queen's Gambit.

*****

The next morning, when they were finally too far away for their Father to be able to turn the boat back to Starling City and force her to go back home, Oliver and Thea decided to reveal Thea's presence on the Gambit. Their Father hadn't been impressed when they had cornered him on the deck and announced her presence.

"So.." Their Father started slowly, Thea winced, it was his 'calm voice' which usually meant he was anything but. When he was mad he would go quiet, weigh his words, make them squirm and she wished that he would just loose it already. "You smuggled not only Sara Lance on board but your sister as well?" He raised his eyebrows and turned to Oliver, "Am I to be expecting any other guests? Tommy Merlyn perhaps? Laurel Lance?"

"Just Sara and Thea." Oliver replied, placing himself in front of Thea.

"Son, I had expected that you would smuggle a girl on board...I didn't think you'd bring Thea along with you." Their Father sighed and his expression softened slightly, "I was surprised to see Thea and Sara when I had expected to be greeted by the sight of you and a... _ruffled_...looking Laurel."

He turned to her with a disproving expression, "Since your missing school you can spend some time studying whilst your here and I'll inform your Mother of this  _revelation_." As her Father continued to speak she could practically feel the disappointment radiating off of him, "Did you even think of the panic it would cause if you disappeared? If you magically just didn't come home?"

Thea at least had the decency to look ashamed, burrowing into Oliver's grasp. "I'm sorry Dad...I just didn't want you two to leave me behind." Again.

Deciding that his children were suitably chastised Robert Queen's expression softened and his lip quirked upwards into a smile, "I would never leave you behind...but now that you're here you better be prepared to earn your keep Thea.." 

Immediately Thea pouted as she thought back to last time her Dad had said that to her, "I'm not scrubbing the deck! That's Ollie's job!"

"Speedy!" Ollie said in mock-offence, placing a hand over his heart and pulling himself away from her grip,"I'm not scrubbing the deck either Dad! Me and Sara have plans." He stressed the last word and Thea made a disgusted choking sound. She didn't even want to think about what exactly her brother had 'planned', for his time with Sara.

"And I'm sure that you understand my plans didn't include you smuggling your sister onboard?" Robert commented before breaking out into a smile, "Come on...the Captain offered to teach us all how to fish...Sara can come along too."

Thea took her Father's hand and bounded towards the Captain's deck, practically bouncing with excitment about the trip. She looked out over the side of the ship at the blue abyss and white caps of the waves, trying to picture the fish that were swiming around her.

She hoped that she caught one, maybe if she caught a pretty one her Dad would let her keep it to show off to Mom.

She had a goldfish once but it had died within a week, she had cried and forced Ollie to help her give her a funeral for it. In her defense she had been about four years old but it was eight years later and he still wouldn't let her live it down.

Maybe a more exotic specimen of fish would be more interesting.

*****

Thea was sat under the covers in her bed, now that her Dad knew about her presence she didn't have to hide inside Ollie and Sara's room - thankfully they had both managed to keep their clothes on and their hands to themselves whilst she had been there.

Truthfully when it came to Ollie and Sara she thought Ollie was making a mistake, maybe an even bigger one than when he had chosen to piss on a cop. Although she had laughed when he had told her about it. Mom hadn't and Dad had threatened to cut off his trust fund.

That had sobered Ollie up.

Sara was sat in front of her and they were currently engaged in a game of Poker, Sara was teaching her how to play whilst Ollie was being lectured about the buisness deal her Father was trying to make.

It had to be the thousandth game in a row and Thea was still loosing, Sara saw her forlorn expression and jokingly punched her in the arm. "Cheer up! If we keep going at this speed we'll avoid the storm and be in China in no time...we can see the sights and have some girl time whilst Ollie and your Dad do all the work."

"I've never been to China before." Thea murmured.

Sara grinned, "Neither have I..." Smirking the older girl revealed her cards to Thea and smirked, "Royal Flush kiddo...I win."

Pouting slightly Thea sighed, "I'm never going to win this.."

"You will...you just need to work on your pokerface...you're not that great at hiding your expressions Thea." Sara offered.

A knock at the door caught both of their attentions, her Father poked his head around the door "I was wondering if I could have a moment alone with my daughter? Oliver's waiting in his room with a bottle of champagne for you Miss Lance."

"Of course Mr Queen," Sara jumped up with a smile, winking at Thea "By the end of this trip you'll be a pro...don't worry." She thanked Robert for letting her onto the Yatch as she walked past. Thea sat up straighter on her bed and watched her Father with a confused expression, he sighed and sat down next to her. "That's not going to end well for either of them."

"Maybe it'll work itself out." Thea offered weakly, wanting to defend her Brother but she knew that Dad was right. She herself had told Oliver as such before but she didn't want to upset him or either of the girls.

"Maybe." Her Father hummed in response, "Thea...you know I love you? Right?"

Frowning she nodded, "Course I do...I love you too."

"But you know that you shouldn't have come?" He raised his eyebrows at her expectantly and she nodded, "If you had wanted to come you should have just asked...I'm sure your Mother and I could have worked something out...I didn't think you'd want to...a business trip to China didn't exactly sound like your idea of a good time."

Anxiously fiddling with a loose bit of hair she turned to meet her Father's gaze, "It isn't but you and Ollie and Mom are always so busy and I just wanted to get to spend some time with you...even if it was on some stupid Yatch." She shrugged, knowing it was stupid. Her Dad did spend time with her, so did her Mom and Ollie.

"Then I would have brought you with me in a heartbeat." He murmured softly, kissing her forehead. A sudden crashing sound caused her to flinch and he jumped up from where he had been sitting on her bed, "It's okay Thea...it's going to be okay...I promise...it's just the waves...we're in a choppy part of the Ocean...go to sleep alright? I'll be here when you wake up."

Trying to block out the sound of the world tearing itself apart outside Thea burrowed under her blankets and tried to shut out the world around her, using the soft texture of the blanket to comfort herself. She was vaguely aware of the soft clicking of the door as her Father left the room.

"Goodnight Dad," She murmured.

*****

The sound of thunder woke her up from her slumber, the boat was shaking and swaying much more than it had before. She stumbled out of bed and grabbed a blanket to wrap around herself as she tried to make her way to the door, calling out with a tired voice "Ollie! Dad!"

She was afraid.

She could admit that.

Suddenly the sound of a loud explosion rocked the boat and Thea barely managed to suppress a whimper, something was very wrong. Everything else happened too fast for her to react, one second she was trying to run towards her door and the corridor where she hoped her Dad and Ollie would be. And then the next thing she knew was that the boat had lurched and the storm had caused it to tip on it's side, as she was thrown from one side to the other like some kind of rag doll Thea decided that she really didn't like Yatchs.

She slammed into the wall and cried out in pain, the whole of her body was hurting. She tried to get up and move but she couldn't, the water started to rush in and she barely suppressed the cry of terror that rippled through her.

Dad lied...things weren't going to be okay, was the final thing that flashed through her mind before the darkness and the bitter cold consumed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure about their interactions, Robert is a character I'm the least comfortable writing as he hasn't been on the show much. Although I assumed he was close to Thea and she was a "Daddy's girl," as he stopped himself from abandoning Oliver and Moira for her.


	3. The Sinking (Oliver)

**. How'm I supposed to die? .**

How'm I supposed to die,  
When there's only one way to live?  
and the treasure in your eyes  
you were never meant to give  
and you were made to turn your back  
what am I to say to that?

**.**

* * *

 

Oliver flashed Sara with what he knew was one of his most charming smiles as she walked into their room. They finally had the place to themselves, no more Thea hanging around and ensuring that everyone's body parts were firmly kept to themselves.

"I've got champagne." He greeted with a gesture towards the bottle and glasses that were waiting on his bedside cabinet, "To make up for letting my baby sister crash our get together."

Sara chuckled, "She's an alright kid..." Turning her attention to the bottles she frowned and rolled her eyes, "It's not open...where do you keep the bottle opener on this thing?"

Oliver stumbled from where he had been lying on the bed to the cabinet, fumbling around in an attempt to find the key to unlock the bubbly alcoholic goodness he was currently craving.

He really should have opened it before she got here, silently he cursed his lack of foresight and resigned himself to searching for the opener, keeping up a running commentary of what exactly he had planned for his time on the Yatch with her whilst Sara rolled her eyes at his antics.

They were both oblivious to the horror that was about to unfold and change their lives.

*

After a good ten minutes of searching they finally found the bottle opener, Sara was perched on their bed with a glass in her hand whilst Oliver poured himself a glass. More than ready to get down to business.

Sara had her head tilted as she counted the rumbles of thunder in the distance that had been getting louder and closer over the past half hour, "They're getting closer Ollie."

"That's not very scientific." He called out as he finished pouring the glass and took a seat next to her.

"What would you know about science Mr. Ivy League Dropout?" She raised her eyebrow in a silent challenge and shot him a teasing smirk as she took a sip of her glass.

Ollie rose to the bait and leaned in closer to her, "I happen to know a lot about science.." His eyes darted to the glass, "I know about fermentation...I know about biology." He teased and leaned in towards her, planting a quick kiss on her lips.

She kissed back before breaking away, regret flickering across her face for a second "Ugh...Laurel's going to kill me."

Oliver was quick to soothe her conscience, "She'll never know..." He decided that he would just have to take her mind off of her sister and his girlrfriend the old fashioned way, "Come here." He pushed her down onto the bed and started kissing her, she chuckled seemingly ready to forget about her worries when the sound of thunder ran through the cabin again.

"Okay...that one was really close." She murmured, pushing Ollie away slightly.

"Sara." He soothed, leaning in to kiss her "We're going to be fine." The two started to make out, quickly becoming lost in their own little world.

Oliver paused for a moment as a rocking sensation distracted him, frowning he looked for any sign of trouble. Any sign that the storm was getting worse.

Without warning the two champagne glasses fell to the ground, shattering and splintering as they hit the ground.

Less than a second later the pair were thrown up from their bed as the boat tipped and lurched to it's side, Sara let out a terrified scream and flailed about wildly as she flew through the air.

Ollie cried out as he hit the wooden bookshelf, his entire body hurting and aching from the impact. Groaning he called out for Sara, "Sara.." he reached over to get her - he needed to find his Father and Thea.

The water came in, faster than he thought possible and pulled her away - he himself was too weak to get to her before it did.

Her scream echoed through the room and Oliver cried out desperately, "Sara! Sara!"

*

Oliver thrashed and fought against the cold, Sara was still out there - somewhere, she couldn't have gotten that far. "Sara! Sara!" He screamed, his vocal chords strained and his voice raw from the effort.

"Oliver!" A voice called out, vaguely he realized it was the voice of Gus. One of the men on the ship.

"Sara! Sara!" Oliver reluctantly turned his gaze away from where he thought that Sara had sunk to where the voice was coming from, it was a life raft. They must have managed to deploy it before the ship sank.

Using the last of the adrenaline that was surging through his body he fought through the cold and the pain to swim over to where the raft was. His Father was leaning over the side of it, holding out a flare - the man made a split second decision and tossed it into the ocean so that he could save his son.

Oliver felt the two men pull him into the raft, he practically collapsed with exhaustion before turning back to see the ocean. See the darkness that he had just left Sara in.

He coughed up some of the water from his lungs, "Dad! No! Sara's out there."

Robert grabbed his son by the arm and held him, stopping him from diving back into the water in a desperate attempt to save the Lance girl, "She's gone son, she's gone."

It was then Oliver realized Thea wasn't on the raft either, "Dad...D-Dad where's Thea?"

He watched as the Yatch sunk into the ocean, consumed by the water around them, "T-Thea!"

She couldn't be dead.

His baby sister couldn't be dead.

He'd sworn to protect her.

*

Thea scrambled around wildly in the water, teeth chattering as she fought against the tides that were threatening to pull her under. Throat raw and shaking, though she didn't know whether it was with fear or the pure terror that was rushing through her, she called out desperately for her brother, "Ollie! Ollie! Oliver!"

The sea burnt her, the salty water making her choke and gag and she cries because she doesn't know what else to do. She tried to call out but the wind seemed to muffle and smother her cries, her legs were starting to ache from constantly kicking and pushing herself up above the water, "Ollie!"

Tearfully she thought about how he had promised not to leave her.

"Dad? Ollie!"

He had promised her.

Ollie had promised to never let anything bad happen to her.

And her Dad had promised not to leave her.

*

Oliver couldn't believe that he'd lost Sara and his sister in the short space of time it had taken for the Yatch to sink, grief and guilt consumed him. It had been his idea to smuggle Thea on the ship, she had wanted to go but it was he that had allowed her to.

And now she was dead.

"Thea!" He frowned as he heard his Father call out, gaze focused in the distance.

Thea? Thea was alive?

He looked to where his Father was looking, there was a figure - barely more than a small dot in the distance. The only thing that stood out in the darkness was his sister's red denim jacket. Standing out amongst the blue. "Thea!" He screamed, hoping that it wasn't too late, that she wasn't too far gone.

That she wasn't dead and it was her lifeless body floating in the distance.

"Speedy!"

He practically sagged in relief when a small voice cried out, carried to them on the wind, "Dad? Ollie!"

By some miracle his sister managed to swim over to them, though Oliver doubted that she would have been able to if the currents had been working against her, they leaned over the edge of the raft and grabbed one of her arms each, pulling her into the shelter and safety of the lifeboat.

She was alive.

He hadn't failed her.

He hadn't broken his promise.

Exhausted and shaking because of the cold he pulled his legs in closer, his chin resting on his knees. He watched as Thea snuggled into their Father, using him as a way to hide from the cold bitter air around them. He watched with a heavy heart as she looked at him, their Father and Gus in turn.

Watched as the questions formed and were written across her face, watched as her gaze flickered over to him.

"She might still be out there." He whispered hollowly, his last and final protest.

When Robert reached over and patted his arm, "I'm sorry son, but she's gone." He didn't rebuke his claims, his Father was right.

Sara was gone, everyone was gone.

Including their way home.

Silently he pulled Thea closer to her, holding her shaking crying body against his side as he tried to soothe his sister's cries. Usually he'd promise her that everything was going to be okay, that he'd fix everything but looking at the spot where the Gambit had just been and seeing nothing but the ocean there he didn't know how he could possible begin to fix this.

How this could possibly all turn out alright.


	4. Survive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this fic seems to be moving slowly towards the action, on the plus side after this chapter is where the Island plot picks up and boy are Oliver and Thea in for a ride. Slightly apprehensive about the Island scenes as I tried to keep Oliver in character but I also felt like he wouldn't be as "whiny," as even pre-Island he was described as being a good big brother and I feel like he'd be focused on protecting Thea.
> 
> Would have went into more detail about the actual shooting but wasn't sure how much gory detail would be "okay" so I tried to focus more on thoughts and feelings. 
> 
> A dark part of me wondered if had this been canon, would Robert have shot Oliver as if there wasn't enough for four of them I doubt there'd be enough for two. As he seemed to love Thea more but would he have expected her to be able to survive alone.

**. How'm I supposed to die? .**

How'm I supposed to die,  
When there's only one way to live?  
and the treasure in your eyes  
you were never meant to give  
and you were made to turn your back  
what am I to say to that?

.

* * *

The florescent light above her reminded her of the nightlight in her room, Raisa had given her to help with her nightmares when she was little. And she'd clung onto it ever since - though she'd denied still having it whenever Ollie had teased her about it. She had always struggled to sleep without it. She stared up at the light, trying to forget about the storm outside.

Her brother shook her and passed a bottle of water from their Father to her, she weakly pulled herself into a more upright position and accepted the drink. The water feeling against her cool and parched throat and Thea had never thought something as simple and boring as  _water_ could ever taste so good.

"What are you doing?" She heard the captain, Gus, yell to her Father with outrage. The man having to scream to be heard over the wind. Oliver stiffened against her and she frowned, the captain had seemed nice on the boat. His smile had been funny and he'd taught her about fish. She didn't understand what the problem was with him now they were on the life-raft. The way he was looking at her, the glare and the frown wasn't as nice as before. "That's all we've got!"

The water.

She looked towards their supplies with an alarmed expression and nearly spat out the water she was drinking in shock, she was drinking their last bottle - and they were letting her. Suddenly she decided that she wasn't _that_ thirsty anymore. "Here...have some." Thea murmured weakly, her voice cracking in protest at the decision she had made.

She held out the bottle, her gaze flickering towards Ollie and her Father in case they wanted a drink but the pair both shook their heads. Her Father hissed at Gus "If anybody's going to make it it's going to be them-" He paused, shooting a deadly look at the captain "You drink it Thea," The man reluctantly pulled back the hand he had been reaching out to grab the water with.

"Ollie?" Thea whimpered, they were all going to make it - they were all going to survive.

They had to.

Oliver pulled her closer, "Just drink Speedy...it'll be okay." She could feel his shivering and knew that he was relying on their Father as much as she was currently relying on him. 

Their Father pulled them both closer, leaning over Ollie so that they could both hear him, "I'm so sorry! I thought I'd-we'd have more time! I'm not the man you think I am!" Thea frowned in confusion and Oliver seemed to be feeling the same way, she squinted at him and tried to work out what was going on. Why he was talking like that. "I didn't build our city! I failed it! And I wasn't the only one.." He added the last part quietly, practically whispering it to Oliver.

.

It had been days, it felt like forever, of drifting. She thought that someone would have found them by now, that the ship would have sent out some kind of signal when it sank and that there would have been helicopters and planes and boats all searching for them. Instead there had been nothing, they were alone.

They were alone and she was scared.

Gus was sat on the edge of the raft, idly playing with a knife, Dad was sat with an exhausted Ollie slumped against him whilst she sat with her knees pulled up to her chest.

"You can survive this...make it home...make sure that you  _both_ make it home and you can make things better." He shook Oliver slightly, in an attempt to keep his son awake, "But you gotta make it through this first." They had been floating for days and they still hadn't came across any sign of land. There was just water, all around them.

"Oliver.." Dad whispered, voice dry and raspy from dehydration.

Oliver shifted slightly and shook his head, "Save your strength." 

"You can survive this!" His Dad whispered, voice surprisingly full of energy, "You both can." He looked between his two children with a grimace, expression full of pain, "You can both make it home...right my wrongs...but you have to live through this first...you hear me Ollie? Keep your sister save...you hear me? You hear me son?"

Oliver groaned, "Just rest dad." He was practically falling asleep, his Father having to jerk them both awake.

Thea murmured something that they couldn't quite make out, "D-Dad?"

Two tight and firm hands wrapped around her and she was pulled into a tight hug, he stroked her hair and tucked a stray lock behind her ear before turning to Oliver and placing a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sorry...I'm  _so_ sorry but I'm not the man you think I am." Their Father's gaze was more somber than she had ever seen it and his words were laced with guilt. "I need you both to make it home...son..keep your sister safe...the pair of you need to make it home." 

The man leaned over and planted a kiss on Thea's forehead, "I love you."

Oliver and Thea watched in horror as their Father pulled out a gun and before either of them could make any move to stop him he shot Gus and sent the man toppling into the water. Thea screamed as the shot rang out and Oliver jerked towards their Father. Their Father shot them both a small sad smile, "There isn't enough for all of us...Thea...close your eyes." He met Oliver's gaze and his eyes widened, "Survive."

Oliver grabbed her and pulled her close, pressing her face into his chest - shielding her from what their Father was about to do, whatever he wanted her to close her eyes for. She heard the gunshot and felt Oliver let go of her as he jerked towards their Father, letting out an agonized scream. 

Her brother had pushed her away as he had jerked upwards and she pulled herself off of the floor of the raft and looked towards her Father with a confused expression that quickly morphed into one of horror, "O-Ollie..." She whimpered as she stared at his body.

He was dead.

Their Father was dead.

Thea watched as Oliver picked up the gun, eyeing it with as much hate as she could muster - she hadn't even known that their Father had carried a gun or known how to use one until he shot the captain. But even after he killed  ~~murdered~~ a man she had never thought that he would kill himself, that he would leave her and Ollie like that.

Oliver looked blank, his eyes wide and fixed on the gun. She wanted to say something to make her brother smile, make everything okay, but she couldn't think of anything nice to say.

They were alone and she was too scared and exhausted, the sound of the bullet as her Father pulled the trigger playing inside of her head on what felt like an endless loop. Instead she closed her eyes and leaned against her brother, wrapping her arm around his torso.

Their Father was dead, the man who had raised them and who they loved, was dead. He was never coming back.

Thea had never lost anyone before and if she hadn't been so tired and exhausted then she would have been screaming, crying and cursing whoever or whatever it was that had decided that this was okay - but she was far too tired and dehydrated to do that. She trembled and her body wracked with sobs, her brother pulled her close and stroked her hair.

She could feel his body shaking.

"O-Ollie...what do we do now.." She whispered, her voice shaking.

Her brother didn't reply and for a second she thought he wasn't going to but he finally tore his gaze away from their Father and looked down at her, "I don't know Speedy...I really don't."


	5. Lian Yu

**. How'm I supposed to die? .**

How'm I supposed to die,  
When there's only one way to live?  
and the treasure in your eyes  
you were never meant to give  
and you were made to turn your back  
what am I to say to that?

**.**

* * *

Ollie had made a makeshift shelter for them on the shore, nestled in between two palm trees, and it seems like something out of 'Lost.' The show that he and Tommy had been so obsessed with, she had wanted to watch it but her parents hadn't let her and for some reason it had been a rule that Oliver and Tommy had refused to help her break.

Not that that seemed to matter now, she and her brother were living that show now.

Her clothes stank of salt, a reminder of how she had nearly drowned just days before, and she was hungry. Really hungry. Their rations had ran out days ago..she couldn't remember how long. It had all blurred together on the life-raft, especially after Dad died. After he killed himself.

She was sat underneath the makeshift shelter, knees pulled up to her chest as Ollie slept beside her. She didn't know if he was actually asleep or not but she didn't want to risk waking him, so she settled for watching the rise and fall of his chest.

Shaking slightly she pulled off her locket and opened it, looking at the photo inside of it and letting out a small sigh of relief as the photo inside appeared to be undamaged. It was a photograph of her, Ollie, her Mom and her Dad smiling in the sitting room of the Mansion.

She traced the image of her Father, trying to ignore the flashes of blood that appeared in her mind. The image of his body, the sound of the gunshot clashing with the photograph in front of her. The past and present clashing violently.

A sharp shrill cry caused her to jerk and knock her brother, nearly dropping her locket in the process. He groaned and pulled himself up - looking over at her with a concerned expression before he looked over towards the source of the noise, raising a hand to shield his eyes from the sun. "Ollie?" She questioned as he stiffened and his eyes went wide, she squinted to try and see what he was seeing.

Thea looked over and saw birds centered around the liferaft. They must have been after the supplies, she reasoned. They weren't going to get much, there was nothing left - everything had been used whilst they drifted and floated to the Island.

She frowned as her brother jumped up and stumbled towards the liferaft, desperately sprinting towards it - "Hey!" Her brother yelled, his voice hoarse from the dehydration "Hey!" Get away from him!"

A sick sense of realisation washed over her, their Father. He was still in the liferaft, her brother had wrapped him up with the tarp in an attempt to shield them both from having to stare and watch as their Father's corpse rotted.

The birds were after him.

They were trying to  _eat_  him.

They were trying to eat her Dad.

She shot up and ran towards her brother, the stones and pebbles cutting at her feet and she winced and whimpered as the pain shot through her. "Hey! Hey, stay away from him!" She cried weakly as Oliver scrambled towards the raft, trying to chase off the birds. She heard her brother cough and froze where she was standing, watching him collapse onto his knees and start to throw up. Throwing what little his stomach contained onto the shore.

Weakly he went over to their Father, collapsing against the side of the life raft. "Stay away!" His voice broke slightly and she closed her eyes at the sound.

The birds flew off, she watched as they became small dots in the distance, wanting to look anywhere other than where their Father was currently lying. Where his body was lying.

**.**

Thea watched as Oliver laid their Father down on the rocks, she had made a point of staying away whilst he unwrapped their Father. She didn't know if she wanted to see him or not, Oliver noticed her hesitation and called out to her in a soft tone, "Thea...it's alright..it's okay...he can't hurt you."

She let out a strangled sob, she wasn't scared of him hurting her. Her Dad would have  _never_  done that to her, he'd barely yelled at her even when she had probably deserved it. Reluctantly she walked over to him and frowned at the sight, he looked the same - his skin was just different.

But he looked wrong, he looked like a thing.

She couldn't work out why he looked like that.

"I just want him back Ollie." Thea murmured, wrapping her arms around herself in an attempt to comfort herself. "Why'd he have to do that.."

He placed an arm around her, "I don't know Speedy...I don't know." She frowned as something caught her eye and pointed towards his trouser pocket. Something square and brown was poking out from their Father's pocket.

"A notebook." Oliver replied as he flicked through the pages.

Thea straightened up to try and get a look at it, Oliver lowered it so that she could see it and she looked at the grey logo inside of the cover. Gently she ran her finger over the symbol, feeling the indentations and grooves under her skin, "I didn't know he had this."

"Neither did I." Oliver muttered as he pulled it away from her and shoved it into his pocket. She fingered the locket around her neck and clasped it tightly - it was the only thing barring that notebook that they had left of their Father.

**.**

It took them a while but they finally covered their Father, her back was aching and she was out of breath from the constant lifting and carrying. Her brother had only let her use the smaller rocks in an attempt to spare her the pain of carrying the bigger one's.

Not that she would have been able to carry then even if he had let her try.

She watched as he leaned against the rockface, out of breath. Thea scanned the shore from where she was stood for anything useful. Her brother was covered in dirt from their makeshift grave. They hadn't been able to bury him properly and had been forced to just cover him with stones.

**.**

Oliver watched Thea with concern, she had just been forced to help him bury their Father, he sighed and wished he had the power to go back in time. To stop Thea from getting on the boat, it was his fault that she was here, he'd helped her. He'd gotten Sara killed and now he was probably going to be responsible for the death of his sister. 

The one person he had sworn he'd never hurt and he was probably going to let her down, like he'd let Laurel and Sara down. 

He laid a final stone onto the grave and stood up, grunting with the effort, a noise from behind him caused him to pause and falter slightly.

Then a burning, searing pain tore through him. He let out an agonized scream and watched as Thea turned to him with a horrified expression - her eyes wide and fearful. He collapsed against the rockface and tried to suffocate his cries, he opened his mouth to reassure Thea to say something but the words died on his lips and were replaced by pained noises.

He looked to his shoulder and saw an arrow sticking through it, the head covered in blood.

His blood.

He turned around in the direction of the arrow and saw a man in green armed with a bow and arrow, the man seemed to be loading another arrow.

**Thea.**

Two arrows for  _two_  people.

He turned his gaze back to her and managed to get out words past his strangled cries and screams, "Thea! Run!"

She hesitated and he shook his head, the movement sending waves of pain through his body, "Run...Run...Run!" He screamed - over and over again. The effort hurting his throat and the movement making the pain burn hotter and harder. The last thing he saw before he passed out was his sister disappearing into the dense green jungle that surrounded them. 

Relief surged through him, Thea was safe.

That was his last thought before black spots clouded his vision and he was consumed by the darkness.

.

Thea ran through the dense jungle of the Island, her eyes scanning the area around her desperately. The image of her brother getting shot with an arrow on repeat in her head - she had left him! She had left her brother and now he was probably dead. He was probably dead just like her Father, just like everyone else on the Yatch.

She ached everywhere and the soles of her feet were covered in cuts and nicks from the rough jungle floor - making running painful. But she had to get away, she wasn't prepared to let the bad man get her too, she didn't want to die too.

Whimpering slightly she leaned against a tree and tried to catch her breath, she was terrified, she was finding it hard to keep running but she was too scared to stop for longer than a couple of minutes.

She stumbled as she tried to run and she let out another whimper as she went crashing down to the ground, the harsh floor of the jungle scraping her skin. She was only wearing shorts, a shirt and a denim jacket. Thea didn't know what she was meant to do.

Now she didn't even know where she was.

And she was alone.

Her vision clouded over as tears filled her eyes and Thea let herself cry, cry for her Father and her brother and everyone else who had been on the Yatch. For her Mom who had just lost everything.

For herself.


	6. Friend Or Foe?

**. How'm I supposed to die? .**

How'm I supposed to die,

When there's only one way to live?

and the treasure in your eyes

you were never meant to give

and you were made to turn your back

what am I to say to that?

.

* * *

Thea ran through the dense jungle of the Island, stumbling as roots caught her feet and wincing as sharp pebbles nicked her feet. Her chest was burning and her eyes were watering, she'd never been one for running - preferring Archery and even horse riding.

Guilt was tearing away at her, she'd left her brother - potentially left him to die, and he'd told her to.

She leaned against a tree, trying to calm herself down and catch her breath. She didn't know what to do, there wasn't anyone to tell her what to do or how to survive. All she knew was that she needed to run but she couldn't do that forever, what if she needed to eat or sleep or drink? Was there even anything she could eat? Anything could be poisonous and she didn't know how to make a fire.

The sound of a twig-maybe a branch snapping caused her to flinch and spin around where she was standing, looking towards the souce of the noise. She tensed up and her hands formed small fists, logically she knew she'd be pretty bad in a fight but she didn't want to just go down without even trying.

Thea watched as three men, all clad in black, emerged from the trees. She eyed their guns warily before her posture relaxed, sagging against the tree in relief. There was other people on the Island, people who could help her and save her brother.

Maybe they could make it.

She pushed off from where she was leaning against the tree and approached them, a small smile on her face, "Hi! You have to help me-" She reached out towards one of them, not entirely sure why but she just did it without thinking.

Instead of talking to her or trying to offer any sort of comfort the man grabbed her arm and twisted it painfully behind her back, causing her to cry out and whimper, "Please don't hurt me...I need help-" The man cut her off by placing handcuffs on her wrists, ignoring how she cried out as he tightened them.

"P-Please stop! I haven't done anything...p-please...my name is Thea Queen...my family have money they can help you...please...please..." Her cries fell upon deaf ears and she was dragged from the small clearing she had been standing in towards what looked like a hole in the ground.

Uncaring of her distress or fear they pushed her into the hole, sending her off balance as she tumbled into the hole. Having her hands behind her knocked her off balance and she couldn't do anything but cry out and plead to her attackers, a tactic they had already shown they could ignore.

They slammed what looked like a metal cell door and she jerked backwards, scared of being hit by it, "Please!" She called out, "I haven't done anything! You can't just leave me here!" The three men didn't seem to care as one of them muttered something she couldn't understand into his radio before the three of them walked off into the distance.

Leaving her alone in a cage without a backwards glance.

**.**

Oliver jerked awake, groaning as the sudden movement sent pain through his body as he knocked the arrow lodged in his shoulder. Blinking he looked down at the arrow in his shoulder, there was dried blood around where it had pierced him and he couldn't help but stare at it - people didn't use arrows, not unless they were into some weird stuff or lived in the medieval era.

The fact that someone had shot him with one seemed absurd, unreal.

He looked around the cave for his sister, for Thea. The last thing he remembered was her disappearing into the blur of green and he hoped that that meant she was safe, that she'd gotten away - not that the idea of his sister alone on a strange Island was comforting it just seemed a safer place for her to be than with the bow and arrow wielding maniac that shot him.

A movement in his peripheral vision caught his attention and he felt his body go rigid, muscles tensing as he braced himself for a fight, it was the man. The guy who'd shot him. "P-Please don't...please...my family have money...they'll pay you if you help me." Oliver pleaded, his money was the only thing he could offer - he'd been taught from a young age to use his wealth to his advantage.

But judging by the impassive expression on the man's face he either didn't care or couldn't understand what he was saying.

And a part of him really hoped it was the latter, because if the man wasn't interested in money then there was nothing he could do to stop him.

Instead of hurting him the man simply knelt down in front of him and held out what looked like a bowl of water, after sniffing the water and reluctantly deciding that his thirst outweighed his suspicion he accepted the water from the bowl. He hadn't realised how thirsty he was until the man gestured for him to slow down.

Oliver eyed up the man cautiously as moved away from him, taking the bowl with him. He knelt down in front of the fire and pulled out what looked like herbs, he ground them up and placed them into the bowl of water he'd just drank from, idly he wondered if the man was about to drug him and if so why.

"W-Why are you doing this? Where's my sister?" Why are you helping me? Are you going to kill me? Did you kill her? Were the questions he was too afraid to ask outright, mainly because he was scared of the answer.

The man stared at him blankly before his expression softened slightly, answering in broken and heavily accented English, "To protect you."

That answer made him scoff, anger clouding his judgement for a second, "You  _shot_ me to protect me? You're a maniac! A psycho!"

Instead of reacting he brought the bowl forwards again and said something Oliver didn't understand, but judging by the way the man's gaze darted from the bowl to Oliver he guessed the man wanted him to drink. Silently swearing to come back to life and kill the man if the drink he was giving him was poisoned Oliver reluctantly sipped at it.

A decision he soon regretted as the rancid taste filled his mouth and caused him to splutter and gag. The man simply raised the bowl to his mouth again and Oliver managed to force the water-herb mixture down. He opened his mouth to start questioning the man again when he felt a sharp searing pain in his shoulder. He let out a strangled cry and screamed as the man pulled out the arrow from his shoulder, he breathed heavily as he tried to ignore the dark spots clouding his vision.

The pain was overwhelming and he felt himself succumb to the darkness yet again.

.

Hands cuffed in behind her, knocking her off balance. The metal biting into and rubbing against her wrists, she was led through what looked like a camp. Various nameless, faceless men were dotted around - all holding guns - she eyed them up nervously. She'd always disliked guns, they were too loud and violent, and even if she had liked them before the sight of one was just making her think about her Father. About the events of the life-raft.

She was roughly pushed by one of the men, tripping over a root she stumbled forwards towards a tent. It seemed to be the main one as everything else surrounded it, the guard jerked his gun towards the entrance of it and she hesitated before entering it.

Biting her lip she looked around the room and was surprised by the sight of a blonde haired man, he wasn't wearing a mask - she noted, he turned around to see her and shot her what looked like an attempt at a smile. But it was too wide, showing too many teeth, it reminded her of the smiles her Dad and Uncle Malcolm saved for people they didn't like but had to get on with. Those people were usually businessmen.

"Hello, please sit." The man called out - with a British accent? She was pushed towards the chair in front of his desk and after a second she sat down, her feet swinging in the air as they couldn't reach the ground. "Thank you...I didn't want to be rude...I do apologise for how they've treated you." He gestured towards the cuffs on her wrists and told the guard standing behind her to take them off.

She mumbled a thank you and rubbed at the red skin on her wrist.

The man continued speaking as he poured her a glass of soda with ice inside of it, "They're trained to view  _any_ stranger as hostile...regardless of appearance, gender or age." He eyed her up, "Now...my name is Edward Fyers...could you tell me you're name?"

"T-Thea.." She whispered, "Thea Queen..." Pausing she looked back to the men with guns and thought for a second before meeting the man's gaze, "Can you help me?"

Edward Fyers leaned forwards and tilted his head at her, as if she was something to be studied, "How about you tell me how exactly it is that you ended up here on Lian Yu."

"Lian Yu." Thea echoed quietly, mulling the name over. It sounded like something out of a book. "I-I was on a boat...a Yatch with my Dad and Ollie...he's my brother...and his  _friend_ Sara." Her grip on her wrist tightened, and she rubbed the spot where the cuffs had been in an attempt to soothe herself. She didn't want to think about the Gambit but she needed to save her brother. "The boat sank..in a storm and we ended up here."

"We?" The man questioned, his gaze looked almost panicked? She frowned at that. "Who's we?"

"Me and my brother...Oliver...he was shot...a-a bad man shot him with an arrow and he told me to run so I did...then you're men found me and brought me here." Thea explained in a rush, trying to block out the memory. Tried to block out the traitorous little voice inside her head that was telling her that Oliver was dead, that she'd lost him just like she'd lost Sara and her Father.

That he'd left her alone.

Edward Fyers' voice pulled her back to reality, "The man who shot him," he said as he pulled out a photograph, "Did he look like this?" The man in the photograph looked like someone out of the army, in a uniform, with a beard longer than her Father's.

She squinted at the photograph uncertainly, she hadn't really seen the person who'd shot her brother - Oliver had but she hadn't, "N-no...we weren't looking...I just saw an arrow go into him and he fell down...told me to run and I did." After a moment of deliberation she shook her head, answering with a bit more assertion, "I don't know."

The man's eyes flashed at that and she flinched slightly, his expression had hardened and she wondered what she had done to make him angry. But that expression was soon replaced by the blank mask he'd been wearing before and she chalked up her unease to her worry about her brother.

"That's perfectly alright," Fyers called out as his gaze darted towards the mercenary behind him, "Wintergreen...send someone to escort Miss Queen to the mess area and get something to eat and drink...then return back here." Unbeknownst to Thea a small smirk graced the mans lips as a plan started to formulate in his head, it seemed that Thea Queen was going to be a very useful asset indeed.


	7. Shengcun

**. How'm I supposed to die? .**

How'm I supposed to die,

When there's only one way to live?

and the treasure in your eyes

you were never meant to give

and you were made to turn your back

what am I to say to that?

.

* * *

 

Oliver woke up again to the darkness of the cave, only just lit by the firelight, he saw the man come in through the cave's entrance with a cage in his hand. He looked at the cage and frowned as he saw a bird inside of it, if his Father was here he'd be telling him what kind of bird it was - his Dad had liked birds.

He tried to sit up against the wall, grimacing as he got himself into a more upright position.

"Have you seen my sister?" Oliver questioned anxiously, the man didn't seem to want to kill him - despite the arrow that the man had fired into his shoulder, and he was worried about Thea. She was just a kid, he'd told her to run so that she didn't get shot and killed but now it seemed she was in more danger than him.

That depended on if the man was an ally or not, he had shot him with an arrow but he'd then brought him with him and looked after him. A dark part of him wondered if this was a Hansel and Gretel style situation where the man was going to fatten him up to eat him, he'd heard about stories like that on the TV - he  _really_ hoped that that wasn't going to be the case.

The cage was placed in front of him and Oliver frowned, "What am  _I_ meant to do with that?" Hell he and Tommy had failed Home-Economics, granted that was because they'd only taken the class to pick up chicks, how was he meant to cook and prepare a bird on his own.

"Shengcun." The man said as he sat down in front of the fire and began to eat a bird he'd already started preparing.

"Does that mean bird?" Oliver questioned as he looked from the man to the bird, letting out a frown that quickly deepened into a scowl as he realised what Yao Fei's hand gestures meant. The man wanted him to kill the bird. "You want me to  _kill_ the bird?!" He'd never killed anything before, his Father had tried to take him hunting when he was twelve and he'd killed when the man had shot a deer - refused to let him kill anything else and they'd been forced to return from their 'week trip' early.

He didn't want to kill some random bird, "I'm not going to kill it." Oliver shook his head, "No! I'm not going to kill the bird!"

"Shengcun." Yao Fei said again with more force as he nodded towards the bird.

"How is killing the bird meant to help?" Oliver yelled before his tone became more desperate, "You have food...I'll help you cook it or whatever but I'm not killing it!" He glanced over to the fire where Yao Fei was cooking the bird he had been preparing, "Please!"

The man shook his head and nodded at the bird, Oliver didn't know what to do. He didn't want to hurt the bird but he hadn't eaten in days and he was starving, seeing the man eat the bird was making him realise just how hungry he was and if the way his stomach was rumbling and growling he couldn't hold out for much longer.

Murmuring apologies he pulled the bird out of the cage, making sure to hold it steady. He quietly tried to soothe it as it tried to break free of his gasp, he whispered an apology before wrapping his other hand around it's neck and twisting it. Ignoring the way the sound of it's neck breaking made him want to throw up.

He looked at the bird with disgust, he'd just killed it.

He'd just taken a life, albeit a birds life but that didn't matter - he'd killed something.

He felt sick.

His gaze flickered over to the man with and he felt anger surge through him, the man had shot him with an arrow, kept him prisoner in a cave and made him kill something. And he still hadn't told him anything about his sister, even though the only reason he'd been separated from her was because of  _him._

"You happy now?" He spat as he looked back over to the lifeless form of the bird.

The man nodded in approval, "Shengcun." He moved over towards Oliver and held his hand out for the bird, Oliver handed it over without protest and watched as the man began to pluck the feathers from the bird.

"Yeah," Oliver muttered as he folded his arms across his chest, "Bird...I know...I get it."

The man shook his head, "Shengcun not mean bird." And Oliver resisted the urge to scream - the man spoke English! The man had understood every word he had said, every time he had plead for news about his sister and he had accepted the man's blank silence and stares in response to them because he assumed the man couldn't understand him.

But he had understood him, he'd just ignored him.

"Shengcun mean survive-" His gaze darted between Oliver and the bird, "If you want to survive this place then bird is not last thing you kill."

"So what?" Oliver called out as he jerked forwards, hissing as the movement sent waves of pain through his shoulder, "I kill a couple of birds and you help me find my sister? I lost her  _because of you!_ " He clenched his fists and sighed, "Please...I need to find her."

Yao Fei ignored his anger and tossed him the leg of the bird he'd already been roasting on the fire, "Eat..save your strength." As Oliver opened his mouth to protest he shook his head, "Tomorrow we look for your sister...tonight we rest."

**.**

Thea Queen was sat cross legged on the ground outside of Fyers tent, most of the guards seem to eat their food standing up but couldn't do that. She didn't like the men, she couldn't see their faces and the look in their eyes made her uncomfortable.

She was surrounded by people she didn't know in a place she didn't know.

Fyers hadn't found her brother yet, he said that he'd told his men to look and had even checked the shore of the beach where they'd washed up but he wasn't there. She didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, it meant that he hadn't died there but that didn't mean he was still alive.

She hoped he was still alive, she didn't want to lose him too.

A group of men walked through the camp, walking past her without a glance - something she wasn't used to, all headed towards Fyers' tent. They paused outside of it and she watched as the man emerged, his gaze was colder than it had been before and it only seemed to get worse as the men talked.

She couldn't understand what they were saying but judging by the way his gaze and expression darkened she didn't think what they were telling him was good news.

"You mean to tell me you've failed?!" Fyers voice rang out, she winced at how loud it was. The man in front of him began to mutter in a language she couldn't understand but the tone made it sound like he was begging, the other men had stepped away from him as if they knew what was coming.

Fyers turned to Wintergreen and muttered something she couldn't hear. Wintergreen nodded and pulled out his gun, aiming it at the man and pressing the barrel against his temple. Thea let out an alarmed cry at the sight, she had avoided seeing what her Father looked like as he pressed the gun against his temple but she had watched as he had shot the Captain.

She shook her head as Wintergreen turned to look at Fyers and closed her eyes when the man nodded, she knew what was coming next and she didn't need to -  _didn't want to_  see what was about to happen. Her face scrunched up as she resisted the urge to run, she couldn't run away from these men - she needed them.

She needed Fyers to find her brother and save him from Yao Fei.

"Miss Queen," A voice called out she opened her eyes to see that it was Fyers looking at her with a calculating expression. "Please keep your eyes open...this is something I'd rather you didn't miss-" At her frown his gaze flickered over to Wintergreen, "I can get one of my men here to ensure that they remain open...do I have to do that?"

"N-No," She murmured, forcing herself to look up and at the man who had a gun pressed against his temple.

The rest of the men didn't even blink, didn't even flinch, as Wintergreen executed their comrade - the man they worked alongside. She didn't understand how people could be so cold, so cruel, she never wanted to be like that. Never wanted to hurt anyone like that.

"You're going to have to get used to the sight of that kid." Wintergreen called out as he turned to her, she couldn't see his expression but she guessed he was smirking under his mask. "Fyers doesn't like people who fail him...you might want to remember that...if you want your brother back that is."

She froze at the threat in his words, tensing up and he released a chuckle. The man was laughing at her, laughing at her fear, "Death happens to everyone little lady...you shouldn't be so squeamish." With that he chuckled and walked off towards a group of men who were sparring.

Looking down at her tray of food she tried to ignore the feeling building in the pit of her stomach. She looked at the food and suddenly the meat looked a bit  _too_ raw and the sauce a bit  _too_ red. Clasping her locket she tried to ignore the image of the man's lifeless body lying on the ground - the bullet-hole in his head and the way his brain seemed to splatter  _everywhere._

She didn't want to watch another person die.

Especially not her brother.


	8. Saints And Sinners

**. How'm I supposed to die? .**

How'm I supposed to die,

When there's only one way to live?

and the treasure in your eyes

you were never meant to give

and you were made to turn your back

what am I to say to that?

.

* * *

The next day she woke up early, just before dawn, which was the earliest time that she'd ever gotten up. Back at home she rarely used to be awake early, Raisa always having to wake her up to make sure that she wasn't late for school. Although Ollie had always been worse, it'd been rare that he would even go to school never-mind get up for it - she wouldn't be surprise if his laziness had been one of the reasons for him begin kicked out of four colleges.

She'd always thought it was stupid, she knew he wasn't an idiot because he used to help her with her homework and he was a good teacher. He just didn't seem to care about doing well, why bother when your future is already planned out for you - a part of her muttered bitterly.

She doubted that their parents had planned for this. Thea wondered how everyone would be reacting to their disappearance, her Mother was going to be be distraught and she wouldn't be surprised if the Lances were too. They would have been told about Sara by now, she just hoped that they would find them soon. She didn't like the Island or the people on it.

She just wanted her brother back.

They were billionaires though, what's the point of being rich if money can't find two kids stranded on a desert Island? Though thinking about it she knew it was probably harder than that, still she hoped that her Mom would find her soon. She just wanted to find Ollie and go home.

Fyers had promised her that he would help her, she just hoped that she was right to trust him. Or at least trust that he could find her brother. She didn't know if she trusted him a part of her wanted to but a part of her kept flashing back to the man he'd ordered to be shot - the man he'd forced her to watch die.

It had been days and yet the sound of gunshots were still ringing in Thea's head, she'd watched as her Father killed a man and then listened as he killed himself. She'd thought she was safe on the island, cold and hungry and miserable but safe, and her brother had gotten shot.

Now she was stuck in a camp full of people she didn't know and couldn't understand and she knew she wasn't safe. Fyers had seemed like he could help her but then he'd shot a man which made him a bad person? But then her Father had shot a man, whilst she was watching, and she didn't want to think that her Dad was a bad person.

 

Tentatively she stepped out of the tent, not shocked when she saw a Mercenary stood there waiting for her. He didn't say anything instead he just nodded and started to lead her towards where the food was - apparently she wasn't trusted to wander around by herself.

The camp always seemed so busy, people were always moving around seemingly hyper focused on whatever tasks they were carrying out. Although if Edward Fyers had given her a task to do she'd probably focus too, he wasn't the kind of man to accept failure. There was a group unloading supplies from a truck whilst Fyers observed a group of men sparring.

It was all they seemed to do in their spare time, fight and sleep.

The soldier next to her muttered something but she couldn't make out what he was saying, she didn't speak Mandarin and it wasn't like she could look at his expressions. She frowned and quietly asked him to explain what he said, the man made some gestures and pointed towards the small trays of food - full of things she didn't recognise.

Uncertainly she placed what looked like a rice like substance into a bowl and then filled a bottle full of water from the tank. It tasted different to the water from Starling, she hadn't known that water had a taste never-mind that it could taste different.

She drank from the bottle and let out a content sigh, the water soothing her dry throat. Her feet drummed against the jungle floor as she watched the men move around. The men in the camp scared her, but none of them scared her as much as Wintergreen. She didn't know his first name or even if 'Wintergreen' was his name but she knew that she didn't like him. As he walked past her and towards Fyers tent she tried to ignore the bile that rose in the back of her throat at the dark red splatters on the blades of his swords.

She tried to tell herself that it was just some animal, a rabbit or a bird, but she didn't actually believe it.

The mercenaries all tended to leave her alone, though she was always being watched by one of them, they didn't try to interact with her. Thea preferred it that way, these were the kind of people who didn't blink when somebody got shot and seemed to revel in violence. She had seen their 'sparring matches' where they'd drag a prisoner from the cages and arm them with only a stick, maybe a knife or gun if they wanted a more exciting match, then cheer as the person was inevitably killed.

Always in a violent and gory mess.

Like her Father, like Gus and like that man.

**.**

"You said we'd be looking for my sister." Oliver complained, a whine seeping into his tone as he resisted the childish urge to punch something. He'd never been one for healthy coping mechanisms. He'd usually turn to alcohol whenever he needed to forget about something or beautiful women but they weren't exactly in abundance on the Island.

And so he was trying to focus all of his energy on finding his sister; trying to ignore the grief he felt at loosing his Father and the anger at the fact he'd lost his sister. Something that had happened because of his would-be saviour. "You said that you'd help me find her...especially since you're the reason I lost her...and what are we doing...walking around and staring at puddles." He kicked at the muddy puddle in front of him.

The man merely shot him an unimpressed look, similar to the ones Raisa would give him when she thought he was being particularly rude or childish. "Bad men on this island, weapons, camps. If we go looking unprepared, they'll kill us."

"And if we don't find my sister soon these 'bad men' could kill her." Oliver retorted as he walked through the woods, listening to the sound of birds chirping and branches snapping. He prayed that they would find some sign of Thea.

Some kind of sign that she was alive and well rather than a corpse lying in a ditch somewhere, he couldn't lose her too. He'd sworn the day she was born to protect her, he didn't want to break that promise.

He'd broken so many promises but never any he made to Thea, she was the one good thing in his life that he hadn't disappointed or ruined. He thought Laurel would be with that but then he'd decided to sleep around and then with Sara, his self destructive tendencies at their finest.

Oliver hoped that Thea wasn't about to be added to his list of mistakes.

The idea that she could be dead, that she could have been murdered made him feel physically sick. She was a kid, she was the kindest person that he knew and if someone had killed her. Had hurt her. Then he didn't know what he would do, either follow in the footsteps of his Father or accept the fact that the bird wouldn't be the last thing he would kill.

He didn't want either of those things to happen.

He turned his attention back to his hooded friend. His shoulder still ached, a constant dull pain that turned into a hot searing one if he moved too quickly or if he moved the wrong way. He was still annoyed about that, the man had shot him in the shoulder with an arrow like a psycho and the only reason he was still hanging around was because the man had helped him afterwards.

He seemed to care about him, or at least not want him dead, in his own weird way.

"Wait." The man held up a hand, "Do not move." Oliver frowned as the man readied his bow and pointed towards the clearing, where a rabbit was eating.

Oliver watched as the man released the arrow, hiding the fact he was impressed when the arrow went straight through the rabbit's eye. They'd been hunting for what felt like hours, or more accurately, he had been hunting whilst Oliver followed behind and scared off the animals with his annoyed running commentary.

"Dinner." The man called out as he used his bow to gesture towards the rabbit, "Fetch."

The idea of going and fetching a dead animal wasn't a great one and so he turned to the man and pointed towards the bow, "Hey! I've got an idea...how about I shoot the thing and you can go pick up the bloody dead disgusting animal."

To his surprise the man held out the bow expectantly, "Fine."

"What?" Oliver questioned, caught off guard.

The man held out the bow again before murming, "Breathe...everything breathe-" He began to demonstrate how to shoot with the bow and Oliver watched, "You breathe...pull back..aim...fire."

Still caught off guard Oliver accepted the bow and tried to load the arrow, cursing as it fell out twice. "Aim for that tree..." He nodded and loaded the bow, mentally readying himself for it. It couldn't be that hard, right?

"Breathe." The man instructed as Oliver aimed the bow, the drawstring was rough against his skin and it was making his muscles ache and as he moved his arm it knocked his wound and sent waves of pain through him. As he released he let out a pained hiss and watched as his shot went wide.

It hadn't been terrible but it wasn't close enough.

"Nǐhuì sǐdé fēicháng zāogāo." The man muttered and if Oliver didn't know any better he would have sworn that the man was laughing at him - a barely concealed smirk on his face.

"What does that mean?" Oliver snapped.

The man regarded him coolly for a second before taking the bow back from him, "You will die badly...now get!"

**.**

"Miss Queen-" A polished voice called out from above her, she looked up to see Fyers and Wintergreen standing and watching her. She immediately jumped up and tried to meet their gazes, fighting the urge to flinch under Wintergreen's harsh one. "I believe I may have a plan for how we can find your brother...if you could come with me into my tent please," He turned on his heel and walked back into his tent.

Brushing the dirt off of her legs she followed after him, pushing open the flap of the tent. It reminded her of the tents that Tommy and Ollie had used when they went 'camping' her Father had tried to get them to agree to using more traditional tents but they had insisted on having the biggest and 'best' tents.

She watched as Fyers pulled out a small metallic cylinder, the length of her hand and with a small LED on the end, and turned towards her. "This is a state of the art tracker...developed by some of the finest minds in the world...I think that we will be able to use this to find your brother and to find Yao Fei, the man holding him captive."

"How?" Thea questioned with a small frown, how could they track her brother if the tracker was in the camp.

Fyers gestured towards one of his screens, "We have an idea of where the man is but to send my men rushing in could get your brother caught in the crossfire...instead we came up with another idea...the man would be more likely to let his guard down around you...even take you to wherever he is holding your brother captive and when he does you can turn on the tracker - alerting us to your location and allowing us to come in and extract you."

Surely if the man was as dangerous as they had told her then he'd just kill her on sight? "Why wouldn't he kill me?" Thea questioned, trying to ignore the way that question made her felt. She didn't want to die, she didn't want anyone to die.

"It wouldn't serve a purpose." Fyers said smoothly but it did little to quell the unease building inside of her. Something felt wrong about the plan and about Fyers, she trusted him to get her brother back but she couldn't ignore the way she felt. Logically his plan made sense but if the man was as much of a psycho as they were saying why wouldn't he kill her or her brother?

Thea looked at the tracker doubtfully before meeting Fyers gaze, "This will help me find my brother?" The man nodded, "Then okay...I'll do it."

"Good." Fyers smiled, "Then we best get ready...busy day tomorrow."

She stayed silent as he left the tent, her gaze fixed on the tracker in her hand and the map on the table. "I'm coming Ollie...I promise."

The photograph of the man Fyers is hunting was plastered on the board behind the table, she looks at the man carefully and tries to work out what's the truth. If he was evil, which shooting her brother pointed towards, then she didn't want him near her or her brother and if he had killed her brother then she wanted him to suffer.

But if he wasn't evil, which not killing him would have suggested, then maybe he saved Oliver.

If the man saved Oliver, if he didn't kill him, then maybe he can save her too.


	9. Family

Thea Queen made her way out of the mercenary camp, the camp was already busy despite the fact it was first thing in the morning. Mercenaries - soldiers, she didn't know which - were making their way around the camp, some were unloading crates from trucks whilst others sparred or ate food.

Thea could admit that the food was nice, having a steady supply of food and drink was something she never wanted to take for granted again. Not after those weeks on the life raft and those first few days on the island.

She followed Edward Fyers, she didn't know why he was the one going with her - if he was in charge she would have thought that he would be doing more stuff. She only ever saw him yell at people or bark out orders to Wintergreen yet everyone seemed to know what to do.

It was weird.

But he was a terrifying man. He scared her, not as much as Wintergreen, but he did scare her.

Everyone on this island scared her.

She just didn't know if the man who shot her brother scared her more.

Fyers gestured towards a truck, one that already had two mercenaries in the front seat, she got into it and took a seat next to Edward Fyers. She wondered where they were going, she had read the map but it didn't mean she understood anything beyond the fact that she needed to be where he'd said.

She'd never had to read a map before, Oliver and Tommy had when they went camping with Mr Merlyn and her Father but she hadn't went with them.

"You understand what you have to do?" Fyers questioned, without looking at her.

She nodded and her hand instinctively reached towards the tracker in her pocket, "Find my brother...activate the tracker and wait for you all to arrive." Although she wasn't a hundred percent sure about how she was going to find them, a fact she decided to voice.

He scrutinised her for a second before answering, "We have reason to believe he is hiding near the shoreline, if you can stick to the area around there then hopefully you should draw their attention."

"Hopefully?" She echoed, her mouth twisting into a frown. "That means you don't know, right?"

"It means I hope that this works," He must have noticed her expression as he quickly added, "For your brother's sake."

For Oliver.

She didn't know whether that was meant to be a reassurance or a threat.

After what felt like forever the truck came to a halt, the mercenaries jumping off of the truck and skulking around as they checked out the area. Fyers waited for her to get off of the truck and followed behind her.

"I trust you won't fail me." Fyers questioned, his tone polite but Thea could hear the threat behind his words.

At the mention of failure her mind flashed back to one of her first days in the camp, her having to watch as Wintergreen executed a man. As he was shot at point blank range and as she'd fought the bile rising in her throat as she tried not to throw up in front of Fyers and his men.

That had been the second time she'd witnessed a man get shot.

It wasn't something she wanted to repeat.

"I won't," Thea whispered quietly as she fought to ignore the memory rising to the forefront of her mind.

The man hesitated before nodding and getting onto the truck and calling out to his men to drive them away. Thea looked back towards the truck that was driving off into the overgrowth, she was officially alone, she stumbled around for a couple of minutes before pausing in an attempt to try to get her bearings.

The sound of twigs and branches snapping kept making her flinch, she knew she was just being paranoid but she was scared. She just wanted to find her brother, find him and never leave him again.

She didn't care what she had to do to do that.

He was her brother, he came before everyone else.

Then, she heard a snap and a net rose up from the ground. She instinctively started to struggle, weakly fighting as a net enveloped her and pulled her up into the air.

"Help!" She cried out, hoping that by some miracle the wind would carry her voice to her brother. That somehow he'd find her and save her. They'd told her it could happen, that there were traps all over the island but the feeling of being in one and swaying from side to side was terrifying.

She'd always hated heights.

The only time she'd been comfortable being off of the ground was on top of her horse and she'd hated that after being thrown from her horse when she was eight.

Clenching her eyes shut as she clung onto the net she prayed that her brother would find her soon, that the plan wouldn't fail or go wrong. Her brother would find her, he'd free her and then she'd press the tracker and save him.

They'd save each other.

As she swung from side to side she heard the sound of footsteps and leaves crunching, she struggled against the net as she tried to look towards the source.

It was her brother.

"Ollie!" She cried out, her brother was here.

He was going to help her.

His friend, Yao Fei, called out something she couldn't quite make out. Her brother paused before turning around and pleading with the man, "Cut her down!" The man hesitated, only moving as her brother called out again. "Please! That's my sister!"

His tone was nothing short of begging.

She watched as the man in the green hood, Yao Fei, cut away at the ropes holding up the net she'd been trapped in.

It took her a second to untangle herself, as soon as she was free from the trap she ran towards her brother. He seemed to freeze before rushing towards her and pulling her close to him.

"Speedy," Her brother breathed finally, voice warm and full of affection. She was surprised by the relief she felt at hearing his voice, the way it unleashes a tidal wave within her. Her vision clouds and blurs over as tears spill down her face. "I'm so glad you're okay...god-" He forced back a sob and her grip tightened.

The taste of her tears reminded her of the sea, reminded her of the first time she'd lost her brother - that time it had been to the sea and a storm. This time it had been because of Yao Fei, a man who'd shot her brother with an arrow and who had made it so that her last memory of him had been him collapsing against their Father's grave.

She was really happy that wasn't her last memory of him.

She pulled herself away from him for a second, she didn't know why but she wanted to see him. She needed to make sure that if it all went wrong, if Yao Fei was the killer that they said he was that her last memory of him would be the smile and relief on his face. And the sound of him saying her nickname.

Instead of the agonised expression he'd had when he was shot and the screams he'd let out.

She was really glad that he wasn't dead.

She doesn't want to lose her brother too.

Oliver pulled her towards him, pressing her face against his chest as he stroked her hair and rubbed her back. Like the way he had whenever she'd had a nightmare and made her way into his room in the middle of the night, her Mom's room was always too far away and her Dad was never home.

It wasn't her critiscing him but that didn't make it any less true.

"Ollie-" She whispered, her voice thick and muffled. "I thought I'd lost you too." Like her Dad, like Sara and like everyone they'd been forced to leave behind back home.

His reply was soft, reassuring, "You'll never lose me."

Briefly her mind flashed to the tracker in her pocket but she looked back towards her brother.

She had her brother back.

Nothing else mattered.

She'd deal with everything later, with her brother's help, she didn't want to hurt Yao Fei if he was innocent. And she didn't want to let him go free if Fyers was right and he was just a psychopath that had hurt her brother.

**.**

Time seemed to freeze as he approached the trap, he could just make out his friends warning - telling him to stay away from it and telling him they should leave but Oliver didn't listen. He couldn't listen. Inside the net trap, hanging from a tree, was his sister.

She was alive.

"Cut her down-" Oliver turned to his hooded mentor desperately, "Please! That's my sister!"

His sister.

Thea.

Speedy.

She was alive.

His hooded friend hesitated before nodding and pulling out his knife, moving towards the ropes carefully. Thea was sobbing and it took all of his self control not to run over to her and start trying to pull the net down. But his friend knew what he was doing, if he interfered it would only slow him down.

And he wanted to see his sister properly as soon as possible.

The net collapsed to the ground with a thud, sending Thea sprawling haphazardly onto the jungle floor. His hooded friend sheathed his knife and moved away to give the pair of them some privacy. The man had barely stepped away before Oliver ran towards and embraced his sister, helping her off of the ground and pulling her close. Stroking her hair he tried to check to see if she was hurt.

If she was he'd happily hunt down whatever or whoever had hurt his sister, he'd sworn to protect her and he intended to keep that promise.

He'd broken so many already; his promise to Laurel that she was the only one he loved, his promise to Tommy that he'd either commit to Laurel or let her go and his promise to Sara that everything was going to be fine the night the Yatch sank.

Thankfully she seemed to be alright, she looked good even.

Better than he'd expected her to be.

"Speedy," He whispered as he hugged her, the relief at seeing her alive and well in front of him was palpable. His sister was okay, he hadn't failed her, for once he hadn't screwed things up. "I'm so glad your okay...I thought I'd lost you."

Her reply was muffled, her face pressed against his chest, "I-I thought I'd lost you too...like Dad." Her voice caught slightly at the end and he had to force back the sob that threatened to escape his throat at that comment.

"You'll never lose me."

He broke away from her first, albeit reluctantly. His gaze lingered on her before he faced his friend. His eyes went wide and he shot his sister a small smile, "Thea...this is-" He hesitated as he realised that the man had never shared his name, "A friend...he's been helping me."

The man nodded at his sister, in lieu of a greeting, and he was surprised by the look she sent him.

Thea was usually a people person, full of charming smiles and friendly comments, he'd been expecting her to be wary but the look she shot his mentor had been venomous.

"He shot you." Thea said finally, eyeing the man warily.

He looked at the expression she shot him, disbelieving and hesitant, it took him a second to understand why. She'd watched as he'd gotten shot and had been forced to run into off into an unknown jungle. Alone.

"Yeah," Oliver nodded before continuing, plastering on a warm reassuring smile. "But he did that to help me." He winced as he said it aloud, he could admit it was seemingly flawed logic but despite the pain he felt in his shoulder he felt whenever he moved he knew that he owed his life to the man.

The man had told him about bad men on the island and judging by the amount of booby traps he'd almost walked into, all deadly and meant to kill - which would forever change his definition of booby traps. The ones he'd seen were nothing like the ones he and Tommy had set about the Mansion.

By the way her eyebrows quirked upwards he could tell that that hadn't been the reply she'd been expecting, "Thea...there's bad people on this island...and he shot me because he thought I was one of them...when he realised that I wasn't he helped me...he saved me."

"Really?" Thea pressed quietly, staring at him intently.

Oliver nodded, "Really...I promise." Seeing her look he slung an arm around her shoulder, "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you...I promise....he's a good man...you don't have to be afraid of him."

It was a promise he intended to keep.

He wasn't going to lose her again.


	10. Choose Your Side

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took ages because this is my least favourite chapter as it's pretty filler-y but needed for the sake of the plot and story as it gets everything in place. So I'm sorry.

 

**. How'm I supposed to die? .**

How'm I supposed to die,  
When there's only one way to live?  
and the treasure in your eyes  
you were never meant to give  
and you were made to turn your back  
what am I to say to that?

**.**

* * *

Thea Queen made her way through the overgrowth of the island, making sure to stay close to her brother. Every so often she'd reach out and grab her brother's hand as if to reassure herself that he was still there and that he was real. 

It was what she used to do when she was little after she'd had a bad dream, judging by the way Oliver kept shooting her soft smiles and squeezing her hand when she grabbed him - he remembered that she used to do it too.

Yao Fei kept looking at her with a furrowed brow, his mouth contorting into a frown as he stared at her. Whenever he looked at her with his searching gaze, that briefly made her wonder if he could somehow read minds, she could feel the cylinder in her pocket burn.

She knew it was there and she didn't want him to know, she didn't know how he'd react.

Fyers had said he was a monster, a violent man that had killed dozens and couldn't control his impulses if he was really like that then he wouldn't hesitate to kill her. But it also raised the question of why would he keep her brother alive if he was that kind of monster.

Monsters didn't need friends and they certainly didn't rescue girls from traps.

So what was Yao Fei?

**.**

By the time they made it back to the cave, practically on the other side of the island - his mentor had insisted on them taking a longer route to avoid being stuck in yet another trap, it was dark. That was the one thing he'd noticed about the island, the one thing he'd found almost beautiful, when it was dark it was  _dark._ There wasn't any light pollution and you could make out the night sky, you could see the stars.

He liked looking up at them, especially before he'd reunited with Thea, he used to take her into the garden of the Queen Mansion and show her the stars.

It had comforted him to know that no matter where she had been on the island she'd be looking at them too.

Oliver Queen led his sister towards the cave, allowing his bearded mentor to take the lead, giving her a reassuring smile as they entered it. The way her face scrunched up as she eyed up his current living conditions earned a chuckle from him, though he'd have thought this would be an upgrade for her compared to sleeping on the ground.

Even a small wooden pallet or leaves intertwined over some branches were better than the ground, though either way, it was a major step down from home.

He'd give anything to go home again.

Thea was still eyeing his friend up uncertainly, with what looked like suspicion in her eyes, maybe being on the island had changed her. She'd been through a traumatic experience, it wouldn't surprise him if it did. 

"Welcome to my humble abode," He joked hoping it would relieve some of the tension. 

Thea let out a small, albeit forced, laugh whilst his friend simply headed over towards their makeshift campfire and tried to get some food going.

She froze for a second before hurrying over to where he'd dubbed 'his area,' it was unofficially his part of the cave and it was where he slept. Frowning, his curiosity piqued, he followed after her and smiled to himself at the fact she was still living up to her nickname.

He looked over and saw that she was holding their Father's notebook, she was running one hand over the cover as her other hand clutched her locket.

At least they both had a reminder of home, something to remind them that there were people waiting for them and somewhere for them to return to. He thought about the battered photograph of Laurel in his pocket, that had somehow survived the storm and his time on the island, it felt wrong to hang onto it - like he was still hanging onto her despite the fact she probably hated him.

He was the reason her sister was dead and every time he looked into her bright eyes, wide smile that always seemed far too bright and optimistic compared to the world around them, she had given him it in case he'd miss her and instead of cherishing it and waiting to see her again he'd brought her  _little_ sister along and killed her.

It was his fault.

He hated the selfish person he'd been, it hadn't even been that long since the Gambit but he felt like it was years ago - how could he have been so stupid?

He'd nearly lost Thea, had been able to feel exactly what Laurel must have been feeling and now he felt nothing but guilt and remorse. 

If the situation had been reversed and someone had hurt  _his_ sister he wouldn't want them to breathe, he'd want them to suffer and pay for it. 

Just like he was paying for his sins now, he just wished Sara and Thea hadn't been dragged down with him.

He shook his head to shake away the thoughts, "Come on Speedy...we should probably get some rest...he has first watch." His mentor nodded as if to confirm what Oliver had said and refocused on the fire, Oliver tried to ignore the guilt he felt at the fact he was meant to be on watch.

As the other man probably hadn't been able to sleep properly in years, not without having one eye open.

But he needed to focus on Thea, needed to look out for her.

She was his only chance at redemption and she was his little sister, it was his job to protect her.

No matter what.

He lay down on the pallet opposite Thea, giving her enough space to not feel crowded but close enough so that his presence would - hopefully - reassure her.  

It had been a long day and as he watched the soft rise and falls of his sister's chest, grateful that she seemed to fall asleep easily, he allowed the darkness to claim him.

.

Thea waited until she was sure her brother was asleep before moving away from him and back over towards the fire, letting her mind wander as she stared into the flames. She liked fire better than water, she hadn't been burned before but she'd nearly drowned.

Sometimes she could still feel the cold of the water and feel the salt burning her throat.

She didn't like it when that happened, she'd fall asleep and everything would be there and she couldn't escape it. At least whilst she was awake she could think about other things, focus on survival and her brother and Fyers.

Instead of what happened on the Gambit and the sound of her Father's death.

Yao Fei had left the cave after Oliver had fallen asleep, she assumed the man was on some kind of patrol and she hoped that he wouldn't be back anytime soon.

She thought about the tracker in her pocket, about what she was meant to do now she was at Yao Fei's base and relatively alone.

A part of her knew that if she did do it then she'd have just followed the plan, but it felt wrong. Yao Fei wasn't what she had expected. He didn't seem crazy, his appearance was ragged and sometimes his gaze unnerved her but he didn't seem evil.

Then again her Father hadn't seemed like a murderer.

Maybe she just wasn't the best judge of character.

On one hand, she had Edward Fyers telling her that the man who had shot her brother was a psychopath and a murderer but she had her brother earnestly talking about how the man had saved him.

However someone could save someone by shooting them.

Fyers had forced her to watch as Wintergreen blew someone's brains out.

She looked back towards her brother, he was alive and he hadn't left her.

He'd kept his promise.

She just hoped that he would forgive her, that he wouldn't be mad at her for what she was about to do.

She just wanted to protect him, stop anyone else from taking her brother away from her.

She didn't want to be alone again.

And if she was really wrong, and if Yao Fei was as skilled a fighter as Fyers had made him seem, then maybe Yao Fei could save them both.

A part of her knew that if she did do it then she'd have just followed the plan, she was supposed to activate it once she found them and then it would track her to wherever Yao Fei's base was. But it felt wrong. Yao Fei wasn't what she had expected. He didn't seem crazy, his appearance was ragged and sometimes his gaze unnerved her but he didn't seem evil.

Then again her Father hadn't seemed like a murderer.

Maybe she just wasn't the best judge of character.

On one hand, she had Edward Fyers telling her that the man who had shot her brother was a psychopath and a murderer but she had her brother earnestly talking about how the man had saved him.

However someone could save someone by shooting them.

Fyers had forced her to watch as Wintergreen blew someone's brains out.

She looked back towards her brother, he was alive and he hadn't left her.

He'd kept his promise.

She just hoped that he would forgive her, that he wouldn't be mad at her for what she was about to do.

She just wanted to protect him, stop anyone else from taking her brother away from her.

She didn't want to be alone again.

And if she was really wrong, and if Yao Fei was as skilled a fighter as Fyers had made him seem, then maybe Yao Fei could save them both.


End file.
